Chapter 16: Gothic Art of the 12th and 13th

CenturiesMagister Ricard

Art History

What should you know?

• Be ready to answer questions about Gothic architecture– Lots of interior images of Gothic cathedrals

• What are the architectural innovations of this period?

• What are the key features of Gothic architecture?

• Think height and light!

Gothic: It’s an insult!

• The term “gothic” was coined by Renaissance artist (and art historian) Giorgio Vasari– Wrote biographies about the Renaissance masters and

designed gli Uffizi building• Proclaimed all of the structures built during the

previous period to be the type of work only Goths would produce– Gothic tribes were blamed for the downfall of Rome and

thus, civilization• Vasari, as a Renaissance thinker, favored classical

Greco-Roman culture

GOTHIC ART IN FRANCEChapter 16

Abbot Suger: A Real Goth

• Abbot Suger, as abbot of Saint-Denis, wanted to beautify the church

• Desired a significant departure from the Romanesque style

• Church should be a place of beauty and inspiring hope and paradise (heaven)

• Very different from fear-inspiring last judgment scenes found in tympana of Romanesque churches

Abbot Suger: A Real Goth

• De administratione, Ch. XXVIIBright is the noble work; but being nobly bright the

workShould lighten the minds, so that they may travel,

through the true lightsTo the True Light where Christ is the true door……The dull mind rises to truth through that which is

materialAnd, in seeing this light, is resurrected from its former

subversion

Abbot Suger’s Innovations

Saint-Denis Saint-Etienne, Caen

Abbot Suger’s Innovations

Saint-Denis Saint-Lazare, Autun

Choir, Abbey Church of-Saint Denis

• Completed 1140-1144• Stained glass windows

demonstrate departure from Romanesque

• Only possible due to high development of vaulting techniques– Initially used in the

Romanesque period, now adapted to allow light in

Abbey Church of Saint-Denis

• Aesthetic based on open spaces and not massive, heavy walls

• Suger wanted light and color to help illuminate the soul

• Stained glass imitates shine of gems

Symbolism in Architecture: Notre Dame and Alchemy?

Flying Buttresses

Chartres Cathedral

• Mix of Romanesque and Early Gothic

• Stained glass = Gothic elements

• Housed the Tunic of the Virgin

• Given by Byzantine empress Irene to Charlemagne

• Chartres had a pre-Christian virgin goddess cult

Chartres Cathedral

• Royal Portal• Inspired by portals at

Saint-Denis• Built after the fire in

1134

Royal Portal

Christ enthroned

Virgin MaryAscension of Christ

Ribbed Vaults

Quadpartite ribbed vault Sexpartite ribbed vault

Clerestory

Triforium/Gallery

Nave/Arcade

Cathedral of Notre-Dame, Reims

• Innovates on Gothic features• Extends portal sculptural

elements, gabled portals• Places large windows in

tympana• Soaring peaks above

tympana, reaching middle of rose window

• Begun in 1211, completed in 1286

• Used to coronate the kings of France

Nave, Cathedral of Notre-Dame, Reims

• Great rose window at clerestory level

• Lancets illuminate triforium level

• Window replaces stone in tympanum

• Tracery and sculpture anchor windows

• Mary, not Christ dominates central portal

Nave, Amiens Cathedral

GOTHIC ART IN ENGLANDChapter 16

Gothic Elements in England

• Gothic style gets adapted locally– Originally known as “opus francigeno”

• (English) Decorated style– Ornate decoration of architectural elements– Extra ribs to ribbed vaults

• (English) Perpendicular style– Increased vertical emphasis on architecture– Windows are taller– More ornate

Gloucester Cathedral, England

• Illustrates emphasis on vertical element

• English Perpendicular style

• Large window in the choir

• Tall lancets unite the choir from floor to ceiling

Nave Comparison: Look ma, no Flying Buttresses!

Salisbury Cathedral, England80 feet tall (no buttresses)

Amiens Cathedral, France144 feet tall (flying buttresses)

GOTHIC ART IN GERMANYChapter 16

Shrine of the Three Kings

• Reliquary held relics of three magi

• Shaped like a basilica-plan church

• Shows Germany still inspired by Roman art

• c. 1190-1210

Saint Maurice• Artist: n/a• Title: Saint Maurice • Medium: Dark sandstone with

traces of polychromy• Size: n/a• Date: c. 1240–50• Source/ Museum: Magdeburg

Cathedral, Magdeburg, Germany

• Commander of Egyptian Christian troops in Roman army

• Martyred in 286, favored by Ottonian emperors

Ekkehard and Uta

• Figures represent ideal types

• Faces are individualized and lifelike

• Such realism becomes characteristic of German Gothic art

• Painted to add realism

Gothic Statuary

• Initially, Gothic architecture followed Romanesque in adorning exterior parts of buildings

• As time progressed, especially during High Gothic, sculpture is freed– The higher the relief the greater degree of

naturalism• Gothic S-curve emerges, similar to

contrapposto

GOTHIC ART IN ITALYChapter 16

Return to Classically-Inspired Art?

• Frederick II, Holy Roman emperor, was a talented poet, artist, naturalist and patron of the arts

• Mindful of ancient Roman sculpture and how it affects imperial status, he begins to commission artists to follow that style

• Artists like Nicola Pisano who use observation of nature as a source of inspiration

Pulpit, Baptistry, Pisa

• Nicola Pisano, 1260• Panels illustrate several

scenes – Annunciation, Nativity, and Adoration of the Shepherds

• Virgin reclines in Annunciation

• Inspiration may have come from Roman sarcophagi found near Baptistry

Pulpit, Cathedral, Pisa

• Giovanni Pisano, 1302• Son of Nicola Pisano• More emotion• Higher relief• More dynamic

The Pisano Family

Nicola Pisano, 1260 Giovanni Pisano, 1302

Crucifix: Gothic Painting• Artist: Coppo di Marcovaldo• Title: Crucifix • Medium: Tempera and gold

on wood panel• Size: 9'7⅜" X 8'1¼" (2.93 X

2.47 m)• Date: c. 1250–70• Source/ Museum: Pinacoteca,

San Gimignano, Italy• “Historiated crucifix” –

contains narrative of the Passion of Christ